It is instructive to look at Britain--a predominantly atheist country, and one that has been for some time. There the political consequences of this atheism are not apparent--the UK is guilty of all the same crimes the US is, and in many respects is even more hypocritical. Personally, I agree with Bertrand Russell that, "Religion belongs to the infancy of human reason"; but I'm not convinced that religious faith one way or the other is anywhere near as important from leftist perspective as its made often out to be. Furthermore, I am skeptical about whether those who claim to be atheists in fact are. I would regard, as John Dewey did, Marxists as theists in the truest sense (beyond a superficial level Marxism is in fact, a few novel ideas aside, a virtual analogue of Christianity)*, e.g. A willingness to face unpleasant, often embarrassing, facts, and the ability to make rational choices is crucial, and clearly belonging to any kind of fanaticism will make this difficult or impossible; but it is not as simple as being or not being an "atheist".
It is probably worth noting, that in many cases, religious fundamentalism is a symptom of oppression. This was the case with my ancestors, the Puritans; it was, I believe, the case for Hasidic Jews (a religion which I happen to be well acquainted and have discovered a lot of respect for); and is, increasingly, the case with Moslems, especially those living in Europe. It is in fact evidence of the relative freedom and tolerance of the United States that there are so many fundamentalists in this country--in many cases they have been refugees fleeing, often violent, persecution in their home countries.
At any rate secularism-atheism can no more be trust upon an individual or a group than democracy can be "brought" to a foreign county. If atheists are in fact being predicated--I can't say that I have been, for what it's worth--they should of course fight it. But, if they simply do not like the existence of people with whom they disagree, Though beans old chap!**
*In spite of the fact I was raised a devout atheist, given a choice between the "slave-master morality" of Christianity and Nietzsche's own "slave-master" morality, I'll lake Christianity.
**Atheist may claim to not be well-represented on TV; but they are a hell of a lot better represented than, e.g., African Americans!--In reality, shows like Star Trek or films like Contact are 100% atheist propaganda.
Peter
On Sep 30, 2007, at 10:44 AM, Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
> On 9/28/07, ravi <ravi at platosbeard.org> wrote:
>> On 28 Sep, 2007, at 15:33 PM, Doug Henwood wrote:
>>> Since atheists are the most disparaged "religious" group in the U.S.
>>> - polling well below Muslims and queers - I don't see why the
>>> nonreligious are supposed to be so solicitous of the feelings of the
>>> religious. At least in the U.S. They're the dominant group, and they
>>> should be nice to us.
>>
>> Only if grouping by religious belief has some impact on social order,
>> power relationships, ability to realise one's potential, etc, etc.
>
> Some atheists claim that they are more oppressed than Muslims in the
> USA, citing polls like that. I'd ask them a question: are Guantanamo
> detainees largely Muslims or atheists? The answer is clear.
>
> As for the question of income and religious belief, the Barna group
> says:
>
> One of the intriguing findings from the research is
> that education and income are negatively correlated
> with belief in Heaven and Hell. In other words, the
> more education a person gets or the more income
> they earn, the less likely they are to believe that Heaven
> or Hell exists. While most high-income households
> and college graduates maintain belief in Heaven
> and Hell, the finding reinforces the popular notion -
> and, indeed, Jesus' teaching - that people of economic
> means and those with considerable education struggle
> to embrace biblical teachings on such matters.
> ("Americans Describe Their Views About Life After
> Death," 21 October 2003,
> <http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?
> Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=150>)
>
> That's a fact. The dilemma for secular leftists in the USA as well as
> the global South, who come from various class backgrounds but are all
> well educated, through formal schooling or otherwise, is how to
> overcome the social and cultural gaps between themselves and the
> majority -- the working class, who are largely religious, one way or
> another -- with whom they wish to stand in solidarity. We can't
> overcome the gaps if we deny their material existence by burying our
> heads in the metaphysical sands.
> --
> Yoshie
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